Auto IS better in a TW with long enough range - if the torpedoes go farther than the
guidelines do using Finder, auto is better; it's most obvious with the IJN Type 93 Mod
1's, but most torpedoes go far enough to be worthwhile. With auto on a TW, you can click
anywhere on the map and aim there, giving you more precision than either kind of manual.
In low-level DDs, FFs and possibly some CLs (such as UK Dido), auto doesn't really hurt,
except that you don't learn manual. The spread is so horrible that manual won't help
anyway, the range is short enough that you don't lose much by using auto, and most newbies
can probably land more shells from their DD using auto than using manual. Manual is still
better in anything with any kind of range, regardless of the level. Otherwise, manual is
still better but harder to use for new players.
In ships with only depth charges, obviously, auto isn't any worse than manual, but it
doesn't matter how you aim depth charges anyway.
Using hedgehogs, auto is useful, just because the reload time is slow enough that you want
to land the first salvo, and the bit of accuracy lost isn't worth the risk of missing. Of
course, it's still more accurate when you use manual, assuming you can aim hedgehogs with
manual.

I don't drink the Manual-Only Koolaid, so I still tell people that Auto aim has its uses.
They're pretty specific, and yes, after you get up the scale far enough in gun range and
your rate of fire drops far enough that every single shell has to count, you should be
using manual.

When you're running picket duty for CVs or the gun line in a Frigate or DD (or even some
of the smaller, faster CLs), and you're using a battery of shorter-range, faster-firing
guns in the sub-5" range, several things are going on. You're moving very quickly, you're
usually making drastic turns and maneuvering rapidly as you shoot, your target is moving
very wildly in relation to you, and your guns cycle and track fast enough that if you
simply cannot keep them firing at their max rate and track the target manually. Auto,
used correctly, keeps the majority of your shells mostly on the target most of the time,
and that's what you need. It also lets you switch to DCs or torps, aim, and fire quickly
enough to keep up with your own ship's rapid maneuvering.

I switched to Manual when I moved up to my CL and my eight 2x6" fit. Neither the Atlanta
or either of the remodels have the speed and maneuver to charge and dodge well enough for
close-in work, so I tend to work the ends of the gun line and either die from BB5s that
are flanking, or go after other CLs and DDs that are trying to slip into the rear. My old
DD is still in the shipyard and when I take it out, unless I know ahead of time I'm going
to be doing AA escort, I use Auto with it.

For anybody that believes Manual is the one and only way, I dare you to take a DDX or
Fletcher with 2x5"/38s into GB2 or Blitz and keep your shells on target at your full rate
of fire while you're jinking around enough to stay alive. It's just not going to happen.

Auto is very fine when you are in small ships (FF, DD, CL), from these reasons.
1. You can concentrate on changing ship direction while fighting,
2. You need not repush spacebar after you change angle so able to keep firing at
max speed
3. The inaccuracy doesn`t matter so much (except for AA).

But when in BB, manual aim becomes far easier, because you need not change gun
angle so much.
AWed KGV/POW and Nelly are the few BBs that auto FCS is still effective.

About the only reason I can see using auto-aim would be with premium HH's in a fleetwar.
I wouldn't want to waste the things, and the first salvo needs to land on target, because
if the sub is any good, that's all you're gonna get.

~ Ferrard

Manual aming is much more effecient.
But somehow auto is quite recreational. I've seen that some BBs using auto aiming.
So that one shot can hit many ships with the defocused shells.

Once you go manual, You will never go back.



And AA though auto is possible.

You have to click around distance wise till you hit the golden angle. then click past your
gun range to aim it around the place.

It's just not very practical. Much easier to just change angles and blast away.

Ever done the tutorial mission with the Super Yamato, that is stuck to auto fcs? I did and
wondered why anyone would ever want to use auto after that.

lol...."get to the zip code you want to hit" ....lol nice storm ;)


ya...manual is the way to go. Personally, I found that I can't use auto after using manual
since 2006. It's just tooo hard. I suck at auto!!

Not to mention that your screen has to be where you want to aim your guns if you are
using Auto - very inconvenient when turrets take a few precious seconds to rotate and
you want to keep your eyes on something else.

Auto is fine if all you have are torpedoes or hedgehogs. (If you don't practice with
hedgehog aiming much, it's actually a better way of making sure your hedgehogs
get to the zip code you want to hit.)

BUT... there's an XP penalty for using auto. Plus AA guns are pretty much impossible
to use with it. And since the gunlines for front and rear guns never converge, your
accuracy is limited (Thus while auto is easier and takes no practice, manual causes
more damage once you learn it.) For all these reasons, manual aim is the more
robust solution.